There has been a pronounced uptick in violence against women in Serere since June.
Is it because women now have a somewhere to turn for HELP?
Is it because of the extensive awareness WAGRAU has brought to the community about what assault IS?
It’s hard to say.
But after two weeks fraught with young women (teenagers) who had been assaulted (and in two cases left for dead) WAGRAU has swung into action. As heart wrenching as our work is, woven throughout, is HOPE. Each and every step we take chips away at societal norms that have left this type of blatant violence unchecked and un-prosecuted.
We took 3 comprehensive steps in the past two weeks to combat this disturbing uptick in violence.
1. We established an EMERGENCY HOTLINE where women and girls can call for help, or to report a crime. New stickers will be put onto community buildings and places around town.
2. We set up localized Domestic Violence Community Monitors from our women’s empowerment groups. We gathered them together and conducted our first training. These women will not only help in monitoring violence against women and girls in their villages, but also help inform their neighbors about what domestic violence is – and that it is a crime. All of these women are now trained in Self Defense as well. They will connect neighbors in their village with help from WAGRAU when needed.
3. WAGRAU mobilized TEN large community meetings with churches and local officials including the Police Family Desk Officer and faith based groups to educate the community on Domestic Violence to explain WHAT it is, and that it is A PUNISHABLE CRIME.
Meanwhile, our Founder/Director Deborah speaks on a bi-weekly radio show (reaching 500,000-700,000 daily listeners) where she tackles issues of Women and Girls’s rights, Domestic Violence, the importance of investing in the education of girls, how legal marriage protects women, the importance of family planning – among many others.
In June, JoAnne Waite, a specialist in Self Defense Training visited from the United States and educated our staff members on basic self defense training – WAGRAU has gone on to train 1,752 women and girls!
Each time we are able to save a an abused teenaged girl, getting her the medical care she needs and providing pro bono legal assistance, we impact the community. Each time someone is INFORMED about abuse through one of our meetings and calls it out within the community (backed by support from WAGRAU) we move the needle of CHANGE.
This year we will be ADDING to our LEGAL STAFF to increase our ability to serve the community. Please join us and GIVE to support the demand and continue this important work.
This Community Advocacy takes time, but bit by bit, we make a larger and larger impact on our region.
